Mad Blake: Furry Road
by EatADickClark
Summary: Blake Belladonna, known to most as Mad Blake, wanders the Wasteland in search of the other members of Team RWBY. Remnant has become violent and diverse place following the wars for Dust and the collapse of society. Blake tries not to get involved while on her journey, but the Wasteland has a way of making sure she doesn't get what she wants.
1. Prologue

Mad Blake: Furry Road

The Prologue

In the middle of a barren landscape, lies a collection of beaten and sand covered wreckage. Cars, some trucks, and a gas tank with a gaping hole. Among the wreckage stands a lone figure. A figure that looks just a beaten and worn out as the wreckage around her. Dressed in a leather vest with a shoulder pad that one could argue was in worse condition than the halved car the figure was stood next to. The sawed-off shotgun at her side was, understandably, the only thing on her person in any kind of good condition.

The figure focuses in on the overturned box truck on the other end of the area of wreckage. As she begins to approach it, she turns her head to side to read the name on the back: 'From Dust Till Dawn.' The door on the back of the truck, propped open by the hood of a car, revealed the truck to be empty of cargo. Instead, the figure brings her attention to the front of the truck, where she spots the gas tank. She crouches next to it, and knocks on the tank. The bone dry tank rings out across the Wasteland like a bell. Disappointed, the figure stands back up, and scans the rest of the wreckage for anything of note. She stops her scanning when she hears a noise come from the other side of the box truck. Pulling the shotgun from its holster and aiming it before her, she cautiously makes her way around the dusty engine of the truck. Rounding the corner with a threatening stance, she spots the source of the noise she had heard.

"Bark!"

Blake pulls the trigger of the shotgun pointed at the small corgi sitting in front of her. The shotgun responds with only a click, and the dog remains in one piece. She pulls the trigger a second time, but is again greeted only with a pathetic click. She puts the misfiring weapon away, and looks back to the dog, which has not moved an inch. After a moment of unbroken eye contact, she waves her hands at the dog in a 'shooing' motion. The dog does not budge. Blake tries again, but still to no avail.

"Go away. Get."

The dog doesn't respond to her verbal request, and in a motion of frustration, Blake moves to kick the dog. Before she can, she stops abruptly, the feline set of ears on the top of her head twitching. The dog's ears also move to attention, hearing the same sound that Blake had heard. Both stand still for a long moment, listening intently to the inaudible noise. The dog then turns and crawls into the cab of the box truck, and Blake sprints toward the car on the hill behind her.

She gets into the car, and rushes to start it. Rather than roar to life, the engine instead struggles to make a noise that is not even close to resembling a roar. It coughs and sputters, then goes silent. Blake tries again, but the engine still does not start. The noise that was inaudible before is now becoming clear. Blake sticks her head out the window and turns to look behind the car. In the distance, she spots four vehicles moving hastily towards her. Now in a panic, Blake tries again and again to start the car. When it still refuses, she gets out and runs to the rear of the car. She places her hands on the back of the car, and begins to push down the hill. Once it starts to move on its own, she runs back to the driver seat and start to turn the key once more. The engine, though still not starting, is making more promising noises than the times before. Blake closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and give one last turn of the key.

The engine sounds out with a magnificent roar, the most beautiful noise that Blake had ever heard. She slams her foot down on the pedal and the car hurtles away, leaving a cloud of sand behind it. The sand begins to settle down after a few moments, but is thrown into the air again by the four dune buggies rushing after Blake.

In her rear-view mirror, Blake can see the brightly coloured, red and gold dune buggies fast approaching her. Knowing that she could never outrun them in her heavily modified and armoured hatchback, she begrudgingly gets ready for a fight. She pulls the shotgun from her side, only to remember how it misfired earlier. She tosses it on the passenger seat and reaches behind her. She pulls out her old weapon, Gambol shroud, which is sporting a broken blade as there's no place to repair such an elaborate weapon in the Wasteland. She unloads the clip that was in it, and pulls out a multi-coloured Dust clip from the car's glove box and loads it with that instead.

The dune buggies, which have caught up with her car, surround her in a square formation. On the top of each car stood an armoured man, holding a spear with rockets taped to it and the same red and gold colour scheme of the vehicles. The rims of their wheels were all uniform with the shape of spear going through the centre of them. The driver of the car next to the driver side of Black car, leans out of his car and yells to her in the most menacingly way he could.

"We're sorry! Ha ha ha ha!"

The spears on the rims of the wheels extend out on a hinge, the pointed tips facing outwards. In unison, the two front dune buggies swerve toward Blake's car, intending to tear apart her front tires. Anticipating this, Blake slams on the breaks and falls back before the other vehicles can hit her. Instead of hitting her, the two dune buggies collide with each other. One turns away from the fight and stops, now immobilized, and the other flips over dramatically and explodes in a large cloud of flame and thick, black smoke. The dune buggies slow down, their vision impaired by the cloud of smoke. Completely unconcerned, Blake thunders past the dune buggies, barrelling straight through the smoke.

Once clear of the smoke, and temporarily away from her pursuers, she places the brick laying by her feet into the harness that is affixed to the pedal. With the car now moving on its own, Blake gets up, climbs out the window, and sits on the door. She holds up the broken Gambol Shroud and takes aim at the dune buggy that is quickly closing the distance between them and her. Simultaneously, the man on the back readies himself to throw his rocket powered spear. Blake opens fire on him with Dust infused bullets that left a trail of fire in their wake. She manages to hit the man perched atop the vehicle, but not before he could throw the spear at Blake. It makes contact with her car, and lodges itself in the spare tire on the back of her car. Now that she can see it up close, she notices that the spears are also equipped with an explosive. She watches the fuse become shorter and shorter, with a dumbfounded look on her face, until it is nearly gone.

Blake slides herself back into the driver seat just as the spear explodes. The car violently shakes from the force of the explosion, but continues to move along. After a moment, Blake notices a decline in her speed. She leans out the window, and looks back to see that her back tires are nearly destroyed. The wheel on her side, which was knocked crooked by the explosion, wobbled back and forth violently, threatening to fall off at any second. Blake sits back into her seat, contemplating her new circumstances.

Meanwhile, the dune buggies, one of which was now missing a passenger, have caught up with her again and are making their way into position on either side of her. Blake, still unsure of her plan, instinctively grabs the shotgun next her and puts it back in its holster. She turns to either side of her, taking note of her current circumstances. She then makes a look like she'd reached an important decision and aggressively spins the steering wheel to the left, smashing into the dune buggy before it could smash into her. The man on top of the car if knocked off by the force of the collision, and is left behind as he rolls onto the ground behind the car. The spears on the wheels of the dune buggy tear apart what's left the wheels on Blake's car, and her car rolls over, continuing to slide upside down along with the dune buggies. Now at about eye level with the tires of the vehicle next to her, Blake makes quick work of them with Gambol Shroud, bringing the dune buggy to halt right along with her car.

Now at a dead stop, Blake begins to climb out the window of her car so that she can finish of the driver of the buggy she'd stopped. However, the driver, who was the same on who had yelled to her earlier, made his way over to Blake before she could get out and pulls her out of the car, kicking Gambol Shroud away from her. He lifts her to her feet and pins her against the door of the car, and goes to whisper something to her.

"Hello again."

Before he could say anything else, Blake breaks free of his grasp, and makes a dash for Gambol Shroud. She picks it up and aims at the man running toward her, then pulls the trigger.

*Click*

"Oh you have got to be kidding-"

In a last second decision before the man reaches to grab her, she points the broken blade at the man, and he runs right into it. He looks down at the blade that is lodged in his chest, just before falling to the ground, taking Gambol Shroud with him. The other car, which had carried on down the road a short distance, had now made its way back to Blake, just in time for the driver to see her impale his comrade. Before he stops, he jumps out of the still moving vehicle, brandishing a spear lacking any sort of pyrotechnics. Before he can reach her, Blake pulls out the shotgun and points it at him. He stops in his tracks, not knowing that the shotgun doesn't work.

"Put it down."

The driver puts down his spear, at Blake's request, and puts his hands behind his head. Blake walks up to him, and picks up the discarded spear. He apologizes profusely as Blake does a check to make sure he isn't still armed. Still pointing the gun at him, she begins to inspect his dune buggy. The driver, too afraid to turn around, doesn't notice her get into the driver seat of the still running car. She sets the spear down next to her, puts the shotgun back in its holster, and slams her foot down on the pedal of the car. Hearing his vehicle drive away, the man gets back on his feet and runs after Blake, yelling unintelligible words.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

NewFang is a sprawling city composed of thousands of vendors and shops ranging from thrown together with scrap, to well thought out pieces of Wasteland architecture. It's truly a sight to behold when held in comparison to rest of the villages and towns one might come across. Though the most interesting aspect of NewFang is how happy all the citizens are. At least, this was what bothered Blake the most as she wandered through the city, trying to find someone who would sell her supplies. Everyone had a smile on their face, until they would see Blake. Then the smiles disappeared.

Just a few shops down, Blake spots a vendor with no other customers, and she decides to seize the moment of opportunity. Again, the smile of the vendor disappears as soon as she comes near. The woman running the stall never takes her eyes off Blake as she scans the merchandise for the supplies she needs. After spotting some of what she's looking for, Blake asks the vendor for prices, offering to trade some spare Dust.

"Nothing you could afford, outsider." The woman spoke with a caustic tone, as if Blake had done something to personally offend her. And the way she said 'outsider' was particularly filled with spite. "I don't accept your dirty fuel at this shop. And no one other is going to either. You'd be best to leave town before you get hurt."

Point taken, Blake leaves the vendor alone, hoping to find someone a bit more cooperative. In most situations, she would have just threatened the vendor a gunpoint to provide service. This time however, the smothering feeling of community between all the people put her off of her usual tactics. The last thing she wanted was to offend one person, and have the rest of city come down on her. Another thing that stuck out to Blake was that everyone seemed to dislike her: human and faunus alike. As far as she could tell, from her few short encounters, faunus had the same rights as humans in NewFang. This was especially shocking given that the rumours that Blake had heard all pointed to NewFang being founded by the Old White Fang, the violent faunus rights group that was active before the Collapse.

Despite her best efforts, Blake could not convince any vendor to trade with her. Everyone that she talked to had the same xenophobic attitude toward her, and refused her service. She decided to cut her losses and just leave NewFang, with the hopes of finding someone else out in the desert to either trade with or steal from. When she turned to leave, the view of the road behind her seemed different than the way before. Either the vendors had all moved, or she'd gone way off course and gotten lost. No matter which was true, she wasn't going to have an easy time asking for directions out of the city. Or, maybe she would, seeing as the people seemed to want her to leave anyway. There was what looked like some kind of saloon just up the street from her. Deciding that it may be her best bet for getting directions, she headed towards it.

As she neared the door, a loud horn rung out across the city. She turned to the source of the noise, as did everyone around her. Near what she guessed was the centre of the city was large building perched atop a small hill that seemed to tower over the flat desert metropolis around it. The source of noise was a series of large speaker horns mounted at the corners of the centre building. The horns seemed to be played in a pattern, but I wasn't a pattern the Blake recognized. All the people around her were listening intently to the horns, likely trying to hear the pattern. Then, as abruptly as the horns began, they stopped; and with that, the city went back about its business, as if nothing had happened.

"It's that time of the month again."

Blake quickly turned around to see the face of the voice that had spoken to her. There, in the doorway of the saloon, stood a rather tall, lean woman with a shaved head and strip of cloth wrapped around her head in the form of an eye patch. She looked to be about Blake's age; her outfit was a torn, armoured school uniform, the colours faded and the armour beaten. She looked Blake up and down, almost studying her, before speaking again.

"His Holiness, The Lord Perrible has sent out a truck full of Dust to trade for water." The woman paused. "I assume that you're the outsider that drove in on the Athlete buggy? You don't look like an Athlete to me."

"I borrowed it."

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that. Come inside." The woman turned and walked into the saloon. This was the friendliest person Blake had met all day, so she followed her inside knowing this would be her best chance at getting what she needed.

The saloon was just a dirty inside as it was outside, with chairs lying on the floor, tables tipped over, and the word 'ENABLER' painted on the floor. The woman had gone behind the bar, and was looking through the selection of alcohol: a collection that consisted of only three bottles. She turned to Blake, asking what she'd like to drink.

"It looks like there isn't much of a choice."

"Aren't you the funny one?" Blake simply stared at her in response. "Anti-social too, nice. This stuff here is the good stuff, the expensive stuff. The top shelf booze. No, the cheap stuff I make myself." She reaches below the bar and pulls out a jug full of dark brown liquid that left specks of dirt and grime on the sides of the container when it splashed around. "My own recipe, I'm quite proud of it. Want some?"

"No. I want directions out of the city, and any water and food you might be willing to trade."

"Really though, it's my treat," the woman insisted. "I'll even give you some of the good stuff."

Blake said nothing in response, and turned to leave the saloon.

"How about a job then?"

Blake stopped. She turned to face the woman behind the bar, who looked desperately at Blake.

"What's the pay?"

"Water and food," the woman said. "That's what you wanted, right? I'll give you as much food and water as you can carry in that commandeered buggy of yours. How's that sound?"

"The job?"

"Drive." The woman walked around the bar and approached Blake. She pulled a cloth out of her back pocket and showed it to Blake. The map depicted NewFang, and had a red circle on the outer edge of the city. "I'll be here with a truck, and I'll bring a trailer for your car. All I need you to do is go there and wait for me. When I get there, you drive. Simple, yeah?"

"Why?"

"Why?" The woman laughed at her. "Well, you can't get places if you don't drive. Look, if you won't do it, let me know. But if you will, I need you there in half an hour."

Blake looked at the woman before turning to leave again. She knew that whatever this woman was planning, it would only get her in serious trouble; something Blake wanted nothing to do with.

"The Dust mines." The woman grabbed Blake's shoulder and held the map out to her again. "You know the big Dust deposit under the city? I'm going to blow it up. I need a getaway driver. Once out of the city, we'll take the Dust tanker on its way to Snow Cap. There's supplies on the truck, and you can have as much as you want."

Blake broke from the woman's grasp and pushed her hand away. Now she was absolutely certain she wanted nothing do with this woman. The last thing she need was to be directly involved with a terrorist who'd attacked one of the most powerful cities in the Wasteland.

"You're an outsider," the woman was practically begging Blake now. "You don't have any attachment to the city. You saw how the people treated you. They treat anyone who's not part of their little Perrible worship party just the same. The man never leaves his house on that hill, never shows his face. He wants to be an idea to the people, not a leader. The people will die for him, yet they never see his face. And he controls so much Dust. More Dust than anybody would know what to do with. Nobody should have that much power. You know? I'm not wrong, am I?"

"The people are happy. Let them be."

"The people are brain washed and crazy!" The woman was raising her voice, but stopped and lowered it when she realized people may hear her. "The city is constantly under attack from outsiders trying to get to the Dust. The people are dying. If I destroy the Dust, there will be nothing left to steal and the people will be safe. Help me, please."

"No. I don't need trouble."

The woman groaned, and then sat down in the chair next to her. She put her head in her hands, what thinking about to say next. Her hand slammed onto the table, placing the map in the centre.

"You can have the map," she said, raising her head to look at Blake. "Just don't tell anyone, would you?"

Blake said nothing in response. She walked over to the table, picked up the map, and left the woman alone in the saloon. Not one to go back on her word, or lack thereof, she was not planning to tell anyone about the imminent attack. It was not her problem, and like the woman said: she had no attachment to NewFang. Her plan was to leave the city before the attack happened, so as not to draw any unwonted blame from the wary citizens. She looked at the map and noticed the red circle was where she had parked her vehicle. Once she'd figured her route, she made sure to not waste any time getting out this city.

After 25 minutes of walking through indistinguishably different streets, Blake had finally made her way out into the parking zone where she'd entered. She walked over to where she'd parked, only to find that her car was not there. Knowing that she only had a few more minutes before the attack, Blake went to find the first zone attendant she could. She saw a mechanic working on the underbelly of a car in one the garages, and she headed toward him. Once there, she knocked on the door of the car, getting the mechanic's attention. He rolled out from underneath the car.

"There was an Athlete buggy parked just over there. I stole it. Where is it?"

The scraggly looking old mechanic leaned up, pushing his goggles from his eyes to his forehead. He thought for a moment, before saying anything.

"Oh ya," he said. "That Enabler lady from the bar said to put it on her trailer. Dunno what for, didn't care much."

"Where is the truck?"

"Oh ya, just over there," he said pointing toward the other end of the zone. "Ya be careful round the Enabler, she never gives me good vibes."

Blake ignored him, running toward where he said the truck was. She spotted it, and saw her car on a trailer behind it. She ran over to it, noticing that her car had been chained and locked to the trailer. The attack was supposed to happen any moment, and she needed to get out now. She tugged on the chains in desperation, but stopped when she realized she was bringing attention to herself. She walked to the cab of the truck, looking through it for some bolt cutters. Climbing into the back, she stopped when she saw all the guns piled up. She pushed them aside, searching for anything might cut the chains at this point. There was toolbox near the bottom of the gun pile, she opened it and found some bolt cutters inside.

Jumping out of the cab, Blake ran to the trailer again and began to work on cutting the chains. The bolt cutters were old and dull, barely making any progress on the chains. She knew that she needed to work fast to get out of their before the explosion. Before she could cut the first chain, a hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. It was the woman, called Enabler by the mechanic. Her face was covered in dirt and sweat.

"Sorry about the car," she said. "I guess that's what I get for trying to plan ahead."

"The Dust?"

"I left a long fuse." Enabler looked at the watch on her wrist. "If I did it right, then we should still have about ten minutes. Just get in the truck, we'll drive out of city limits, and I'll unlock the chains for you."

"Now. Unlock them now."

"We don't have time," she said pointing at her watch. "If we go now, we'll have a big head start. You'll be able to get away without any trouble."

Blake pulled out the misfiring shotgun and pointed it at Enabler's face. She motions the tip of the barrels to the car chained to the trailer.

"As soon as it goes off, they're going to suspect you first. You're an outsider, and they don't trust outsiders. That's just the way it's going to be. If you want to get away, we need to go now."

Blake kept the gun pointed at her, not wanting to agree with the woman. But she knew that what the she'd said was true. She growled at Enabler, and then put the gun away as she jumped into the driver's seat of the truck, tossing the bolt cutters on the floor of the passenger side.

"I drive."

"You got it, no problem," said Enabler as she climbed into the passenger seat. She reached behind her and pulled out a rifle, checking to see that it was loaded. Blake gave her a disapproving look as she started the truck. "Just in case, you know?"

The trucks engine roared as it started, letting out a big puff of smoke from the exhaust pipes sticking out from the top of the truck. However, before Blake could even out the truck in gear, an explosion shook the entire area around them. The two women looked out the window to see a gigantic mushroom cloud of green and blue smoke rising into the air, followed by a smaller cloud of red smoke.

"What happened?!" Enabler slammed her hands on the dashboard of the now moving truck. "What was that?"

"That was your bomb."

"It didn't work!" Enabler yelled as she slammed her head against the back of her seat.

"Are you sure? It looked like a bomb went off to me."

"A bomb did go off," Enabler said angrily. " _A_ bomb went off. I left seven bombs! They were supposed to destroy all of it. That was nothing! That was just a small storage silo!"

Blake said nothing else as the woman next her yelled and screamed, smashing her fists against dashboard of the truck. They were on the move now, and she kept checking the mirror to make sure they had no pursuers. Everyone in the parking zone saw them drive off after the explosion, so she knew it was only a matter of time. She looked out the passenger window, passed the temper tantrum, and saw a group of ten or so cars heading straight towards them. She tapped the shoulders of the woman and pointed out the window.

"Look."

"Is that...," Enabler pulled a small pair binoculars out of the glove box, and looked toward the approaching vehicles. "Looks like I made enough noise to make the Dust tanker come for us. Fine, at least one part of the plan can work. If you're as good a driver as I'm hoping you are, we should be able to take it."

"No. We run."

"Oh, no no no no. I'm not going anywhere without that tanker. You want your car? Get the tanker, then I'll unlock it. Deal?"

Blake responded by slamming on the brakes, bringing the truck to a dead stop. She reached over, grabbed the bolt cutters, and jumped out of the cab. She walked to the trailer and started to work at cutting the chains again. Enabler followed her out of the cab, and stood on the other side of the trailer.

"What are doing?" Enabler put her hands on her head and exasperation. "You'll never get anything cut with those things before the Dust tanker and the Patrol Division get here. We need to go...whatever your name is. They'll catch us if we wait here."

"Then let them. You're the one they're after."

"And you drove me out here. You assisted in the crime. Not that they would even believe you anyway."

"Give me the key, then you can go."

"Help me get the tanker, then you can have the key."

Enabler walked to the other side of the trailer, extending her hand out to Blake for a handshake. Blake looked at it for a moment, and then swung at Enabler with the bolt cutters. The woman dodged the attack, falling on the ground in the process. Blake swung again, but Enabler crawled backwards just in time to avoid getting hit.

"Now's a bad time for this," she said as she climbed up off the ground. She pulled out some kind of sharpened gardening tool from a holster and held it in front her, defensively. "All of the Second New-Fang Chapter will be at both our throats if we don't do something now."

"I want my car."

"I want the Dust tanker. We all want things here, and we have to work to get them."

Blake ran toward again, swinging at her with the bolt cutters. Enabler blocked the attack, pushing the cutters away from her to take a swing at Blake. Her counter attack was stopped when Blake kicked her leg out from under her, forcing her to her knees. The bolt cutters slapped the sharpened garden tool from Enablers hands, but before Blake could swing again Enabler pushed forward with her shoulders, knocking her down to the ground. Enabler grabbed hold of the bolt cutters, sitting down on top of Blake to hold her down. The two struggled for control of the tool, while trying to punch at each other to loosen the grip of the other woman. Enabler managed to land a punch right into Blake's throat, sending her into a coughing fit. The bolt cutters were wrestled from her grasp, and then subsequently placed at her still sore neck.

"Now will you get back in the truck, and drive?" Enabler held the cutters closer to Blake's throat as she said, to drive the point home. But Blake wasn't ready to give up. She viciously brought her knee up between Enabler legs, landing a blow right on her crotch. The woman yelled out in pain, and Blake used the opportunity to smack the cutters from her grasp, sending flying onto the trailer with a loud bang as it landed. She then put her hand on Enabler's neck, and pushed her off of her lap. Enabler struggled to get free of Blake's grasp, but she was held firmly. She felt the air begin to leave her chest, and the woman struggled to breath. Blake could see her begin to fade, and she tightened her grip around her neck to speed up the process. Enabler continued to struggle, trying to throw a few more punches before she would completely lost consciousness. But she was fighting a losing battle, and passed out before she could get loose.

Blake let go of the woman after she was certain she'd passed out, and sat back to catch her breath. She looked up and saw that the Dust tanker and its posse were quickly getting closer. Quickly making her way over to the unconscious Enabler, she searched her for the key. After finding nothing, she began to panic. She searched her again, but still found nothing. Now even more panicked, she ran back to the truck and searched the cab for the key. It wasn't in the glove box, under the seats, or in the bag of guns. Had she more time to search, she thought maybe she'd be able to find it, but with New-Fang's defence force bearing down on her, she had no choice but to take the truck.

She climbed into the driver's seat and started the truck. As the engine growled to life, she started to put the truck in gear. She stopped before she did, something holding her back. Blake looked out her window at the woman lying on the ground. She turned away, putting the truck in gear, but not letting off the brakes.

"I need to go. I don't have time for this. I need to go, _now._ "

Blake put the truck back into parking, and jumped out of the cab. She ran to the out cold Enabler, and grabbed her legs to drag her to the passenger seat. After struggling to push the lifeless woman into the cab, she looked back at the approaching vehicles again. The Dust tanker was almost on them now. Not wasting time walking around the cab, Blake climbed over Enabler, shutting the door behind her. She made her way back to the driver seat, and wasted no time putting the truck in gear and hitting the gas.

The truck was moving full speed now, but Blake could see the NewFang vehicles still getting closer. She looked over at the Enabler, who was still not awake. She reached over and started slapping her face, in an attempt to wake her up. It was for nought, though, as Enabler still didn't respond to her. Blake looked at the rear-view mirror. Their pursuers were almost on them now, and the yells of those on the cars could be heard loud and clear now. She reached behind her and grabbed a pistol and checked to make sure it was loaded. She set it on the dashboard, then reached back again and grabbed a small SMG. She set it down on her lap and reached back again, grabbing a shotgun this time. She set this on the passenger seat next to Enabler, before reaching back again. This time she produced an assault rifle that had its stock replaced with the end of a crutch.

The whole truck shook from the force of an explosion. Blake looked back to see that a few smaller, faster cars were now on her. They were throwing makeshift pipe bombs at the truck, trying to get them underneath. Blake reached down and grabbed the SMG in her lap and took aim out the window at them. The car closest to her had two people on it in much the same way as the Athletes she'd fought before. She shot the man off the back of the car before he could throw another bomb. His body fell off the roof of the car, but his leg got caught on the bumper, the body now thrashing around on the ground behind the car.

The driver of the car called out to his co-pilot, but received no answer from the lifeless corpse swinging from his bumper. He reached down and grabbed a single shot grenade launcher and took aim at Blake's truck. However, the body stuck to his car got caught on a rock, causing the car to jolt back for a second, before the body gave way. This was enough to throw the driver forward into his steering wheel, dropping the grenade launcher on the floor.

Blake took this opportunity to shoot at his tires. She managed to get the front right tire, send the car turning away from her. The car recovered, but struggled to catch up again with one wheel down. Another explosion shook the truck, as the car on the other side of the truck caught up enough to throw bombs at her. With Enabler still out cold, there was no one to shoot from the other side of the truck. Looking in the rear-view mirror, Blake waited until the car got closer to the trailer. Once they got right up alongside it, she violently spun the wheel, swinging the trailer right into the car. The collision managed to rock the pursuing car on its side and fling the co-pilot right onto the trailer.

The man that landed on the trailer recovered from his rough landing, and started to make his way to cab of the truck. Blake looked around the cab for something to hold the throttle down while she handled her newest passenger. She grabbed the assault rifle, propped the stock onto the pedal, and forced the barrel under the steering wheel. Once she was sure it would hold, she grabbed the pistol from the dashboard and climbed out the window. The man watched Blake climb onto the roof of the cab, and pulled back the string on the crossbow mounted on his arm. Blake, who was steadying herself on the roof, watched a crossbow land right in front of her. The man before her grunted and quickly set to reloading. Not wanting to wait for him, Blake raised the pistol up and took aim.

Meanwhile in the cab of the truck, the assault rifle that Blake has used to hold down the pedal was beginning to slip after every bump the truck hit. After the truck hit one more decent sized bump, the assault rifle sprung free, firing off a shot as it did. The shot went right out the window past Enabler's head, causing her jolt awake. Still barely conscious, she looked around to get her bearings. Looking up at the windshield, she was startled by the sight of Blake slamming her fist on the window and pointing to the driver's seat. Enabler looked over at the speedometer, watching the needle drop lower and lower as the truck slowed down. Then she looked in the rear-view mirror and saw a group of vehicles that were almost right on top of the truck.

Now wide awake, she climbed into the driver seat and slammed down on the throttle. She looked back again, and the vehicles were still gaining on them. She grabbed the rifle that had woke her up and started to blind fire it out the window. She leaned forward to try and see if she could see Blake on top of the truck, but she quickly pulled her head back as a New-Fang member slammed onto the hood of the truck, followed by Blake. In her hand was a bolt from the man's crossbow, and she raised it up before slamming down into this chest. She pushed the body off the side, and then made her way into the passenger seat.

"You're awake. Keep driving."

"Are you sure," said Enabler sarcastically.

Blake only gave her a disapproving look, before grabbing a large machine gun from the back and leaning out the window to take fire at their pursuers. Enabler threw the now empty assault rifle behind her, and looked back at the Dust tanker chasing her. She thought for a moment, about whether she wanted to risk going after it like she'd originally planned. But given that Blake had already knocked her out once over it, she wasn't sure if she would let her.

Blake climbed back in the window, reloading the machine gun. She looked over to Enabler who appeared to planning something. She knew she was probably coming up with a way to get the Dust tanker, but she couldn't very well knock her out again when she needed her to drive.

"Do you have explosives?"

The question brought Enabler out of her planning, and she looked back behind her. She reached back and grabbed a grenade launcher, and handed it to Blake.

"Don't blow up the tanker," she said before she let go of the gun.

"We're not going after it. If I blow it up, the explosion will destroy all the others."

"It might destroy us to, don't do it."

"I'm willing to take the risk."

"You're crazy," Enabler yelled as Blake climbed out the window. She looked back at the tanker behind her; trying to come up with a plan before the crazy woman next to her destroys it.

Blake takes aim at the truck pulling up next to her, shooting for the guys on top of it throwing pipe bombs. She manages to get all of them in one shot, but the explosion sends their bombs flying back at her. The bombs fall underneath the truck, damaging the back wheels and the trailer. The truck begins to slow down, the trailer now serving as dead weight slowing it down.

"What happened?" Enabler asked.

Blake climbs back in the cab of the truck, holding her hand out to Enabler, requesting the key to the locks holding her car down.

"Really," Enabler said incredulously. "You want to do this right now? Right now?"

"The trailer is slowing us down. If I can get the car off, I can shoot the trailer off. I need the key."

"Okay, okay. Back pocket."

"I checked before, it's not there."

"What?" Enabler frantically reached for her back pocket, not finding the key. After searching all her other pockets as well, she could only give Blake an apologetic look.

Blake simply sighs, grabbing the shotgun next to her. She takes the one at her side out of its holster, and replaces it with the new one before climbing back out the window. She begins to make her way back to the trailer, narrowly avoid gunfire from the pursuing vehicles. Once she reaches the trailer, a car pulls up right next to her. The co-pilot jumps onto the trailer and Blake fumbles to pull out the shotgun, giving the man the chance to tackle her to the ground. He knocks the grenade launcher away from her, leaving her weaponless as he tries to stab her with the crossbow bolt in his hand. Blake sees the bolt cutters next her and she grabs them, swinging them at his head. She knocks him off of her, and gets up, trying to pull out the shotgun again. The man grabs her leg and pulls her down, and then he climbs toward her with the crossbow bolt. Blake manages to get the shotgun out at the last second and shoots him.

Shoving the body off her and off the trailer, Blake gets up and gets to work using the shotgun to break the chains. After getting two chains, she sees that four more cars are pulling up next to the truck. She looks around on the trailer for the grenade launcher, and finds it underneath the car chained to the trailer. Climbing underneath the car, she grabs it, and makes her back out onto the trailer. When she stands up, she sees that the truck she shot earlier was now back and in front the two cars on the right side of her truck. Aiming the grenade launcher at it, she shoots and blows it up after hitting the gas tank. The truck erupts into a cloud of fire and black smoke, and then flips over, coming to dead stop. The cars behind don't have enough time to react, and crash right into it, the pipe bombs in the hands of co-pilots exploding on impact. The two cars behind them dodge it and begin to make their way up to the truck.

Blake ignores the cars that are attacking the truck and shoots last to chains holding her car down. She starts the engine, and walks to the hitch holding the trailer to the truck. Unloading one grenade from the launcher, she sticks it on the hitch before running back to her car. Putting the car into neutral, she slides right off the trailer and past the pursuing vehicles. Once clear, she puts it in drive and starts approach the trailer.

The co-pilots of the cars in front of Blake ready their pipe bombs to throw. Blake picks up her shotgun and fires at the co-pilot of the car nearest to her. She fires twice, hitting his leg with the second shot, causing him to fall off the car and drop his bomb. Swerving her car, Blake barely avoids the full force of the explosion, though it was still enough to throw the grenade launcher at her side out of the buggy and into the sand behind her. Distracted by losing the grenade launcher, she doesn't notice the pipe bomb thrown at her. She turns around just in time to see it hit the ground before, exploding on contact and throwing a cloud of dust in her face.

Taking advantage of Blake's momentary blindness, the driver of the car slows down to give the co-pilot the chance to board the dune buggy. The dust clears just in time for Blake to see the co-pilot jump onto the hood of her car. She pulls up her shotgun, but the man knocks it out of her hands and goes for her throat with the spiked brass knuckles on his fist. From the cab of the truck, Enabler sees this happening, trying to decide how she should help. She decides against firing blindly so that she won't accidently hit Blake. Among her pile of weapons, she spots a can of spray paint that she rigged with a small charge. She grabs it, and leaning out the window she tosses it at the driver of the car in front of Blake. The can hits the hood of the car, getting the driver's attention just as it blows and sprays black paint all over his face, blinding him. The driver frantically tries to get the paint out of his eyes, taking both of his hands off the steering wheel. The car starts to drift toward the truck, falling back between it and Blake's car. Enabler swerves the truck to the left and then whips the wheel back to the right, slamming the trailer into the car. The car flips from the impact of being squished between Blake and truck. As it flips on its side, Blake slams her car into it again, the force of the collision throwing the man on her car flying off, and sending the other car flipping over and over dramatically behind her.

Enabler lets out a victorious yell from the truck, but is interrupted by the man who had boarded the truck unnoticed trying now to climb through the window. He grabs her arm, and she struggles to break free. She lets go of the steering wheel, letting the truck drift to the right, and grabs an empty machine gun clip she sees lying on the passenger seat. Trying to hit the man with the clip, she dodges punch after punch from the man. Meanwhile, the truck continued to drift to the right, and now was directly in front of the last two pursuing cars. They both swerve to avoid crashing into the truck, one of them accidently throwing off their co-pilot in the process. Now, both cars with only a driver, decide to back off and retreat with the Dust tanker that had already begun to turn and run from the truck.

Blake watches the last of their pursuers retreat and pulls up along the passenger side of the truck to help Enabler get rid of the unwanted passenger. She picks her shotgun up off the floor and shoots the leg of the man that was hanging out the window. He screams in pain, and Enabler seizes the opportunity to give him a push out of the window. Both hand free again, she takes hold of the wheel and begins to look around for where the tanker went. She sees it on the horizon, putting a fair amount of distance between it and her. Just beyond it, further out on the horizon, she notices that it's heading straight for a New-Fang war party. She figures that the war party is far enough away, that if she can ditch the trailer now, she can catch up to the tanker with enough to take it and run from the New-Fang. She spins the wheel toward the tanker, hoping that Blake will go along with her plan. Blake watches Enabler turn the truck to head to the fleeing tanker, and makes her way to driver's side to yell at the woman.

"Do you realize you are heading straight for a war party?"

"Yeah," says Enabler. "But I also realize I'm headed straight for that tanker, too. I thought you were going to lose us that trailer?"

"I was busy. Leave the tanker; you'll never get it in time."

"I can't, I need it." Enabler turns back to face the tanker. She wasn't catching up to it with the trailer holding her back. "If you take out the trailer, we can make it."

"No. The only 'we' that can happen now, is if _we_ leave the tanker. Otherwise, I go."

"Oh, yeah?" Enabler laughed. "How far you think you'll make it without any extra fuel?"

"I'll make my own way."

"Don't act tough, we need each other right now. And we need that tanker."

"We do not need the tanker. I'll handle the trailer, and we run."

"Even without the trailer, this truck isn't in the best of condition. That tanker is designed to travel hundreds of miles without stopping. Not to mention it's filled with Dust. If we want to get away, that's our best chance. If we lose the trailer, we can get to it before the war party, and take it while it's undefended."

Blake growls in response, realizing that the woman is actually right. She didn't like that the best option was part of Enabler's original plan, but it was their best shot at escaping right now. She holds the shotgun up, motioning for the Enabler to give her some extra ammunition.

"Yes," the woman yelled. "Now that's what I'm talking about! Handle the trailer, then go up and try to get those escorts off the tanker before I get there." She tosses Blake a box of shotgun shells and pistol, shooting her a thumbs up before she slows down to the trailer.

In the rear-view mirror, she sees an explosion and feels the truck shake from the explosion. The truck begins to speed up, as the trailer has been detached. Enabler watches as Blake drives ahead to the tanker and slams into the rear end of the first escort, spinning it out of control. As Enabler drove past the spun out car, she noticed that Blake had managed to shoot the driver at some point during the collision. When she turns back, she sees the other car upside down, the driver trying to climb out of it, his leg caught on something. Enabler watches as the other woman pulls up next to the driver seat, pulls out the Athlete spear that was in her car and throw into the window of the tanker. The tanker immediately turns to the right and begins to slow down.

When she finally reaches the tanker, Enabler sees Blake throwing the body out of the driver seat, and then pulling the spear out of the chest. Enabler makes her way to the driver side of the truck with her bag of guns, as Blake makes her way to behind the tanker holding a pile of chains. She attached the chains to back of the tanker, then headed toward her car.

"What are you doing?" Enabler asked. "We don't have time for this, we have to go now."

"I'm not leaving without my car."

"It's not even your car," she says as she climbs into the driver seat. "You stole that thing from the Athletes. Leave it."

Blake ignores Enabler, as she pulls the buggy up behind the tanker and attaches the chains to it. She checks that it's secure, and then tosses the spear back in the buggy before running to the passenger side of the tanker. Once in, Enabler hits the throttle before she even closes the door. The Dust tanker drives much faster than their first truck did, even when before it was damaged by the pipe bombs. Looking in the rear-view mirror, Blake watches as the war party gets further and further away, until it disappeared behind the horizon.

"Why did they not catch up to us?"

"The Patrol Division?" Enabler let out a chuckle, laughing at the idea. "The Patrol Division is quantity, not quality. They're just a bunch untrained fools who rely on swarming people to take them out. They aren't hard to outrun, as long you're fast enough. Especially in this tanker. No, they wouldn't catch up to us in million years."

"Once we're far enough, I'll take my supplies and fuel. Then I'll leave."

"Sure," Enabler said, but then had an idea. "Or you could come with me."

"No."

"Don't you want to know where I'm going before you decide that?"

"No."

"I'll tell you anyway. I'm going to Sun Ocean."

Blake turned and looked at the woman. She looked dead serious about what she said.

"I know, I know. But I have directions to it. I know where to find it."

"Directions?"

"Yeah," Enabler said, pulling a cloth map out of her breast pocket. She handed to Blake, and watched her as she studied it. Blake looked at it for only a few moments before handing it back to Enabler.

"It's not real. You're not going to find anything out there but salt."

"It is real," Enabler insisted. "It is real, and with this tanker full of Dust, they'll be sure to let us in. Just think: wouldn't it be nice to live in an actual oasis, with as much water as we want?"

"If it's water you're after, go to Snow Cap."

"No," Enabler shook her head adamantly. "Absolutely not. They're expecting this tanker to show up from NewFang. With New-Fang members driving it. Which, neither of us are. I would've figured that a roaming person like you wouldn't want anything to do with Snow Cap."

"I'm looking for something. Last heard, it was at Snow Cap."

"What are you looking for, exactly?" Enabler got no response from Blake other than silence. The two sat quietly for a few minute before Enabler spoke again. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. I never introduced myself, did I?"

"Enabler."

"Well," Enabler sighed. "That is what most people call me. Lord forbid i give the alcoholics more drink. No, that's not my real name. Call me Boxer."

Blake said nothing and only looked out the window, ignoring Boxer.

"What do I call you?"

Blake continued to ignore the woman.

"Do you have a name, or..."

Without turning to look at her, Blake only said, "Doesn't matter."

"Right," Boxer said, trailing off. "You're really the life of the party, you know that?"

"Athletes."

Enabler turned to Blake, unsure of what she meant by that. "What?"

"There are Athletes to our right. They're keeping their distance from us. I think they saw what happened with the tanker."

"Do you think they're scared of us?"

"They're not scared, they're waiting for us to give them an opportunity to attack."

"So they're looking for a tell?" Enabler honked the tanker's horn and slammed down on the throttle even more. "Well, let's be sure and not give them one."

Blake gave Boxer a disapproving look.

"Seeing as we're being chased again, I guess we can't really stop to fuel you up and send you on your way, can we?" Enabler smiled, pleased with herself.

"You won't find anything in the salt flats. Snow Cap is real, we know that."

"I don't think so," said Boxer. "Sun Ocean is our destination. That's it."

Blake picked up her sawed-off shotgun from the floor and put it to Boxer's head.

"I know that doesn't work. That's why you didn't use it when fighting me earlier."

Blake kept it against her head anyway.

"The salt flats are on the way to Snow Cap. If we go in, the Athletes will fall back, if they even follow us that far. Then you can load up and go to your damn Snow Cap, if that's what you want so badly. Now please point that useless thing someplace else."

Blake growls, then puts the shotgun back down. She turns to look back out the window, ignoring Boxer entirely.

"I guess I shouldn't expect some conversation to keep me entertained on the trip. Well, this is going to be real boring."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Wasteland isn't exactly a pretty place. When driving for miles on end with only the occasional rock breaking the monotony of the desert, it's fairly easy to get bored. Boxer tried all that she could to have a conversation with Blake, but the brooding woman would never so much as acknowledge her. After she'd given up, she set to tinkering with guns and whatever spare parts were lying around in the truck.

Blake checked her rear-view mirror, just as she had been consistently doing for hours now, to make sure that the 'interested parties' were not catching up to them. She found herself being thankful that Boxer had insisted on stealing the tanker, though she would never admit it. The truck not only went surprisingly fast, but it also had multiple fuel tanks to keep it running for a very long time. And even if the Athletes or the New-Fang caught up to them, the truck was armoured enough to withstand nearly any attack At least it seemed like it, but Blake wasn't necessarily interested in testing it anytime soon.

"Hey," Boxer said, catching Blake off guard. When Blake looked over to her a huge smile crept onto her face and Blake immediately regretted looking. "I fixed your crap shotgun. You're welcome. And if that wasn't enough, I made you a little something."

Boxer held up two shotgun shells that looked as though they had been pieced together from whatever was lying around. Actually, they were just pieced from whatever was lying around. Blake eyed them suspiciously, seriously doubting the integrity of the homemade ammunition.

"I know," Boxer said. "I know it looks a little rough, but you're gonna have to trust me on this one. These are Dust infused shells; a little something of my own invention. At least, this is my own recipe, you could say. When you fire off these babies, anything in the way will be going, 'bye-bye.' Think of them as explosive rounds. Very, very explosive rounds. The reason they look so cut up is because I have to alter the shell itself to get the perfect spread of destruction. Shoot one of these and you will be greeted by the most beautiful fireworks show you have ever seen."

Boxer loaded the two shells into Blake's shotgun before handing it back to her. Blake put the gun in her holster, planning on never using it with those abominations loaded into it. She turned attention back to the road, hoping the woman next to her would stop talking to her again.

"You only got two of them," Boxer continued. "So make them count, got it?"

Blake did not turn to acknowledge the woman. She just kept driving.

"So, are you at all curious about how I plan to get to Sun Ocean?"

Blake almost turned to her, but she restrained herself. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was a little interested in how she was going to get there. Or at least how she thought she could get there.

"I mentioned a map, didn't I?" Boxer pulled a map out of one of her pockets, laying it out on the dashboard. "I got this from some guy who came into town one day, said he was looking for me. Don't know why, but he said he was Sun Ocean, so I talked with him. He gave me the map, then left. Haven't heard from him since."

"How do you map the salt flats? There's nothing out there but salt for hundreds of days in every direction."

"The legends and stories of Sun Ocean make their way around, and people decide to try and find it. Almost all of these people don't make it. This leaves wreckage; lots of wreckage. The maps follows the wrecks."

"How do you know it's accurate?"

"I don't," Boxer said with gratuitous confidence. "But that guy who brought it to me seemed to be trustworthy. I just had a gut feeling about him, that I could trust him. Do you know what I mean?"

"A gut feeling is a little weak to trust your life with. Trust is never a good idea. Trust will get you killed."

"Why should I trust you?" Boxer said, and then stuck her tongue out at Blake. "Maybe you have trust issues, but I don't really have any other plans. This is all I've got left."

Blake stared out at the road ahead of her, hoping to end the conversation.

"What about you," Boxer said. "What's your plan? Why go to Snow Cap?"

Blake ignored her.

"Oh come on, give me something. You won't tell me your name. You won't tell me why you're doing what you're doing. You gotta give me something to go on here. What's your favourite hobby? Is it model trains?"

"I don't trust you with any of that information."

"Of course not," Boxer slouched down in her seat, arms crossed. "Because Lord forbid I use the knowledge of your favourite hobby in battle or something. If you don't give me a name, I'm gonna make one for you."

"Go ahead. You won't need for it very long anyway."

"Alright then," Boxer sat back up, hand on her chin and in deep thought. "Ha! This lady down the way from me at NewFang had a dog. She called it Zwei. You're a cat, so I gonna call you Zwei. I bet you wish you'd given me-"

"Who was this lady with the dog? What was her name?"

"What?" Boxer was startled by Blake sudden outburst. She hadn't been interested in anything until she mentioned the dog. "Uh, I think her name was like Pepper or something. Do you know her or something?"

"Was the dog a corgi?"

"No," Boxer paused for a moment, thinking about the dog. "No, this was some big dog. It looked kinda like mop or something. Is that important?"

"No, it's not."

"You said before that you were looking for someone." Blake tried to ignore Boxer again, but the woman continued. "Or, you said you were looking for something. Though I get the feeling you actually meant someone. Did you think the woman with the dog was that someone?"

"It's not important."

"Not to me, but to you it is. Is that what you're looking for at Snow Cap?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Hey, I'm not worrying." Boxer held up hands, as if surrendering to Blake's request. "But I am curious. You're so dark and mysterious. You're like, a million times more interesting than anyone at NewFang. I want to be your friend, but you're making it really difficult."

"Good. Friends are only good for a time. Then they eventually go away, and you're left with a dependency. You become addicted to them, and you loathe their absence."

"Is that why you're going to Snow Cap?" Boxer leaned toward Blake to see her reaction to the question. Blake turned to face the opposite direction. "Are you looking for your friends?"

"It's not important."

"In my experience, 'not important' doesn't drag people halfway across the Wasteland looking for it."

After a while, Boxer had given up talking to Blake and went back to tinkering with spare parts and old guns. Behind them, the NewFang and Athlete war parties never fell behind the horizon. And ahead of them a lighthouse came into view, indicating that they were approaching the salt flats. Blake tapped on Boxer's shoulder, getting her attention.

"You drive now. I'm getting my car off the back of the truck and going. The pod behind the tank, that's where the rations are?"

"Yeah," Boxer said as she climbed into the driver seat. Blake had opened the door and starting to make her way back to her car, but Boxer stopped her. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me? Maybe someone there might know about your friends, or at least take you to Snow Cap. So you don't have to alone, you know?"

"I'd rather do it alone."

"Okay," Boxer said sullenly. "Well, can you at least tell me your name? I know you're all secretive about it, but I promise I'd never tell anyone. I just... Well, if I never see you again, I just want to know who it was that helped me out. I like knowing my friends names."

"No. We are not friends."

With that, Blake left the woman alone at the front of the truck and made her way back to her vehicle. Boxer slouched down in her seat, saddened the Blake ignored all of her advances. She shook her head, trying to shake the thoughts from her mind and focused on the road ahead. Looking at the map laid out on the dashboard, she started to try and look for the landmarks depicted on the piece of cloth. The lighthouse that she'd passed before was shown on the map, and she used that as her starting point. The next indicator looked to be a truck painted with a yellow circle on it. Boxer looked out at the flat stretch of land in front of her. Dotting the horizon were a few wrecked vehicles, which she had to use binoculars to see clearly which one she was looking for. Three of the wrecks she looked at had a different coloured shapes painted on them. Once she'd spotted the truck with the yellow circle, she started to steer the truck in its direction.

Then, the truck's engine made a cacophonous noise and stopped functioning. The truck quickly started to lose speed, and Boxer frantically tried to start it again. The engine didn't even roll over, and the truck came to a dead stop. Boxer jumped out the driver seat and ran to the hood of the truck, unlatching it and lifting it open. Steam and smoke rose from the engine bay, sending Boxer into a coughing fit. Blake came running to the front of the truck where Boxer was investigating the engine.

"Why have you stopped?"

"I didn't," Boxer said from inside the engine bay of the truck. "The truck stopped. Or, the engine did. Well, both did."

"Why?"

"If I knew why, I wouldn't be in here. Though I have sneaking suspicion the smoke might have something to do with it. What are you still waiting around for? I thought you were leaving, Wasteland Wanderer Zwei. Don't you have somewhere else to be mysterious and brooding?"

Blake wondered herself why she hadn't left yet. She had no more business with this woman, and yet here she was. Mentally kicking herself, she walked to the cab of the truck to grab the toolbox. As she stepped up to enter the truck, movement in the distance caught her eye. The war parties that had been keeping their distance were now quickly making their way closer to the truck. Blake wasted no more time getting the toolbox and bringing it the woman inside the truck.

"Thanks for that," Boxer said in between coughing fits cause by the smoke. "I'm happy that you stuck around. Keep an eye out for our interested parties. I'm guessing we have about five minutes or so before they catch up to us."

"Are you good with engines?"

"Am I a black thumb?" Boxer laughed, sending herself into another coughing fit. "Listen, I can fix anything. Guns, cars; you name it. I may not be a very good social creature, but I can make a really cool gun. And I can repair just about any engine."

"I hope so. The war parties are getting closer."

"Just, uh... don't rush me. Okay?" Boxer worked for a few minutes before holding her hand out the engine bay. "Get some water for me, I think I got it."

Blake grabbed a can of water from the cab of the truck, and brought it the hand protruding from the front of the truck. Boxer went back to working for a minute before climbing back out the truck, covered in black oil and filth. She ran to the driver's seat, followed by Blake. As she started revving the engine, Blake looked back to see the progress of the war parties. They were much closer now, and they looked like they'd be there in less than a minute.

The engine started with a roar, joined by a triumphant yell from Boxer. Blake ran to the back of the tanker where her car was hooked up, and quickly set to packing up the rest of her share of rations in her bag. Once Boxer was sure the Blake was back on board, she wasted no time getting the tanker rolling again. In the rear-view mirror she could see the Athletes getting uncomfortably close to the truck. She kept her foot pressed down on the pedal and hoped that her gloomy wanderer would stick around long enough to help shake off the Athletes.

Meanwhile, Blake had packed up all her supplies and was in the process of unhooking her car to leave. She glanced back at the Athletes that were getting nearer to her. In her older model Athlete buggy, there was no way she'd be able to outrun them. But if she could just shake off the nearest Athletes, both her and Boxer would be able to escape without much trouble.

As soon as the Athletes were near enough, they started throwing their spears at Blake. She dodged the first couple throws, and climbed into her buggy where they couldn't hit her. Pulling out her shotgun, she climbed through the roll cage of her car and positioned herself so that she could shoot at the nearest red and gold buggy. Taking just a moment to pray that Boxer's special ammunition would work a promised, she aimed at the Athlete car and pulled the trigger.

Boxer was truly a woman of her word. The Athlete buggy that was following the truck only moments before was now an unrecognizable scorch mark upon the ground. It took Blake a few moments to recover from the incredibly bombastic explosion the resulted from the homemade shotgun shell. Knocked out of her stupor by a spear that narrowly missed her head, she promptly began making her way back to the truck. The back of the tanker was littered with spears that had been lodged into it. Blake took advantage of the spears, using them to climb to the top of the truck. As she climbed to the top of the truck, the Athletes continued to try and hit her. Most spears hit near her and bounced off, but of them lodged into the tank directly between her legs. Blake looked down at the spear, then back at the Athlete that threw it at her. He was rearing back to throw another spear at Blake.

Not wanting to wait and see if the Athlete was a good shot or just had a lucky throw, Blake grabbed hold of the spear above her and launched herself to the top of the truck. She turned and looked down at the back of the tanker and saw that there was a spear right where she'd been hanging just seconds before. Dodging yet another spear, Blake reached down pulled out a spear that was just barely stuck into the tank. She stood straight up holding her left hand in front of her with her thumb up, just like she'd seen the Athletes do, and her right arm reared back and ready to launch the spear. She brought her arm forward, hurling the spear straight at the Athlete that had almost hit her before.

The Athlete screamed in pain as the spear went right through his leg. He dropped the spear he was holding and reached for his leg. The car hit a rock on the ground just as he did so, causing him to lose his balance and fall off the back of the vehicle. The driver turned and watched his passenger fall, then turned back to face the woman making her way toward the front of the tanker. He jammed his foot on the throttle and began to make his way around the tanker. From the holster underneath the steering wheel, he produced a revolver which he hastily pointed at Blake and started firing.

Blake almost fell off the side of the truck dodging the gunfire now coming from her left. The Athlete driver seemed intent on avenging his fallen passenger. After firing all six shots in his revolver and having to reload, Blake took the opportunity to jump off the tanker and onto the Athlete buggy. The driver stopped reloading and set to shooting at Blake with the two rounds he managed to load into the revolver before she jumped. The first shot missed and Blake grabbed the Athlete's hand, trying to wrestle the gun out of his hand. Losing his grip, the driver dropped the gun on the floor of the buggy. Blake elbowed the Athletes face, stunning him, and then made her way through the roll cage and into the driver's seat with him. She reached for the gun, but the Athlete recovered and put his arm around her neck, choking her. Blake struggled to break free from his grasp, but the Athlete was much too strong for her outmuscle.

Just as Blake started to feel lightheaded, the vehicle hit another bump in the road that sent the revolver into the air. When it landed, the force of the collision caused it to fire. The bullet hit the floor, throwing shrapnel into both the Athlete's and Blake's leg. The driver screamed out in pain and lost his grip on Blake's throat. Trying to ignore the searing pain in her right leg, Blake grabbed the empty revolver by the barrel and hit the Athlete's head with the butt of it. Grabbing at both his leg and his newly bleeding head, he was too preoccupied to resist the woman pushing him out of the car and onto the ground.

Blake winced as she pushed down on the throttle with her bleeding leg, holding it down so that she could hit the latch and jam it down. With the car now going on its own, Blake started to make her way back to the truck. Putting all her weight on her good leg and using the roll cage to prop herself up, she climbed out onto the side of the buggy. She reached for the handle on the front of the Dust tank, but it was just far enough away that she couldn't grab it.

"Come on," yelled Boxer from the driver's seat. "You can do it!" She slapped her hand on the outside of the door, cheering on Blake.

Blake let out a growl that was barely audible over the sound of the engines. She reached out again to grab onto the truck, but the buggy she was standing on began drifting away from the truck. Flinching in pain as she did, Blake climbed down to turn the wheel back toward the truck. She was stopped short by an Athlete spear flying straight past her face and lodging itself in the dashboard, the shaft going right through the steering wheel. Blake tried spinning the wheel, but it didn't budge. The spear was so stuck into the dashboard that she couldn't even get that out.

"Hey!" Boxer held a rope out the window of the truck, waving it around. "I'll toss you the rope, then tie it down and climb over. Also, try not to get shot while crossing over. I'd be nothing without my grumpy little kitty!"

Blake let out another growl that would never reach Boxer's ears over the roaring of the vehicles.

Boxer tossed the rope at Blake, who caught it despite being crippled by an injured leg. She hurried to tie it to the roll cage. Once she was sure the knot would hold, she started making her way to the truck. She held onto the rope upside down with her hands and her good leg, leaving her bad leg hanging down below as she crossed. The Athletes saw the scene as a shooting range, and all began taking shots at Blake. Thankfully, the clan of bodybuilders spent more time lifting than practicing their aiming. Bullets whizzed past Blake, only causing her to speed up.

The buggy continued to drift away from the truck, pulling on the rope that Blake was hanging on. She felt the tension in the rope rise as the car went further and further away from the tanker. Bullets and spears still flying past; Blake crawled with the utmost urgency, determined to reach the truck before she either got shot, fell off, or the rope snapped.

One lucky Athlete's pistol shot landed a hit on Blake's already injured leg. She let out a scream that made Boxer turn away and cringe.

"AUGH, YOU'VE ALREADY GOT IT! QUIT SHOOTING MY FUCKING LEG!"

"Language," Boxer flinched at Blake's rather profane outburst. "You alright out there? Buddy?"

"GRRRR."

"Well," Boxer shrugged. "It was your right leg, so I guess _all right_ isn't the right phrase."

"SHUT YOU'RE FUCKING MOUTH, YANG."

"Who?" Boxer looked out at the angry faunus crawling toward her. "Also, language. The bad words are a little, uh, extreme."

Boxer jolted back as Blake hand aggressively grabbed hold of the door. The faunus pulled herself thorugh the window, not even bothering to open the door. As she crawled over Boxer, the eccentric woman made a disgusted face as Blake left a trail of blood on her lap. As she situated herself in the passenger seat, she grabbed a first aid kit out of the glove box and set to bandaging her leg.

"Hey," Boxer said, waving her finger in the air. "I got an idea. If you could just hold the steering wheel. Make sure we don't hit anything. I can do a thing."

Blake took the wheel as the other woman climbed into the back seat of the truck. She set to tinkering with spare parts lying around on the ground. In the rear-view mirror, Blake could see the Athletes coming right up along the truck. With Boxer playing with her tinker toys in the back seat and Blake in a less than ideal situation, there was no one to stop the Athletes from jumping on board the tanker.

"They're on the truck. You need to hurry, with whatever you've got planned."

The sound of footsteps on the roof of the truck indicated that it was too late for Boxer's plan. Blake reached for her shotgun with her free hand, but reconsidered after recalling what the special ammo did. She held her hand out to Boxer, motioning for her to give her a gun. Boxer obliged, handing the faunus some sort of pistol. Blake was none too pleased to see that she'd been handed a tiny little pistol that was barely even the size of her palm. Before she could complain, the face of an Athlete appeared in the window, brandished a cartoonish large knife.

Blake stuck the gun right against his forehead and pulled the trigger. The body of the Athlete fell from the truck, another Athlete moving to take his place. A hand forcibly grabbed the arm that Blake steering with, pulling her toward the Athlete on the driver's side window. Blake pointed the pistol his way, firing off three shots. They all hit the Athlete in the chest, and he looked down at the bleeding holes with a look of shock before falling away from the window. The other two unwanted passengers opened up the passenger side door, reached for Blake. Blake managed to shoot one of them, but the other grabbed hold of bandaged leg. Screaming in pain, Blake dropped the pistol on the floor, causing it to misfire and shoot the Athlete right between the eyes.

"Good riddance-"

"Hey buddy," Boxer roughly pat Blake on the head as she made her way back to the driver's seat, taking the wheel from Blake. "Made you something."

The woman handed her a leg brace, fashioned from spare parts and duct tape. Blake wasted no time putting it on. She flexed her leg, wincing at the pain. It wasn't much help, but it would do well if she needed to run.

"It's nice right?" Boxer smiled at Blake, waiting for some kind of recognition. "Do you like it?"

"They're backing off. They won't try and attack us alone, not without lancers."

"I think they call them spearmen actually..." Boxer sighed, disappointed that Blake didn't even say thank you.

"You're shotgun shells worked."

"Well, yeah." The woman brightened up again, lifting her head and smiling. Some recognition from the faunus was better than none. "When it comes to weapons, there's no one better than me. But I only had enough supply for those two, so I hope you made them count."

"I've one left."

"Oh, then you're set. What am I talking about?" Boxer looked back behind the truck. The Athletes had backed off and regrouped with the war parties about half a mile behind them. "They're a little close for comfort. Let's put some distance between us and them. What do you say?"

The woman reached over Blake and opened the glove box. Inside was a small hatch that Blake hadn't noticed before. Boxer lifted it open, revealing a small lever. She pulled the lever and jammed down on the throttle, sending the truck speeding ahead.

"Don't blow the engine."

"I got this," Boxer replied. "We'll just get far enough ahead of our friends back there, then I'll stop."

Both women watched the war parties get further away, as the engine screamed from the push that Boxer was giving it. Satisfied with how much a lead they'd made, Boxer switched the lever back off and shut the glove box.

"That'll do. And look, the truck is fine. I told you I was good."

"There are more ahead."

"Huh?" Boxer looked straight ahead to see yet another war party head straight for them. One car among the group caught her eye in particular. "Hey, uh... What did I decide to call you? Whatever, never mind. Hand me that rifle from the back seat."

Blake picked up the sniper rifle from the pile of guns in the back seat. Boxer took it and removed the scope, using it look at the fast approaching vehicles.

"Uh oh," Boxer said in a worried tone. "That's bad. Really bad, actually. The worst."

"What is it?"

"Well," Boxer turned away from the scope, looking Blake right in the eyes. "You said you wanted to find Snow Cap. Looks like Snow Cap found us, and they aren't exactly welcoming us with open arms."

"If we surrender, I could talk them out of it."

"Yeah, about that." Boxer handed the scope to Blake. "Look at the big one.

Blake peered into the scope, her gaze immediately being drawn to the large monster truck leading the war party. The body of the truck was shaped like a dragon's head, flames shooting from the mouth of it.

"That would be the Dragon," Boxer explained. "And the Dragon doesn't take prisoners. You surrender to that, and you're dead. I'd say Snow Cap is out of the question now."

"No, I'll take my car and meet them."

"Good luck getting to your car with that leg. And I'm not stopping for you, not with the New-Fang and the Athletes right behind us. Oh, and now Snow Cap in front of us. Best we can do now is head toward Sun Ocean and hope a patrol comes through and helps us out."

"No. I'm not going to Sun Ocean. If you slow down enough, I'll just jump out and meet the Snow Cap party myself."

"You're dead if you do." Boxer put her hand on Blake's shoulder, trying to comfort her. "I'm sorry, but Snow Cap is out of the question now. I'm not about to let you get yourself killed. That's not what friends do."

"Then it's a good thing we aren't friends."

A pistol shot rang out in the cab of the truck. Boxer stared at Blake with a blank expression. Slowly bringing her head down, she saw the bullet hole in her stomach where Blake had shot her. At some point, Blake had picked up the pistol she'd been using earlier. Smoke lifted from the barrel of the small pistol, which was still pointed at the bleeding woman.

"If you don't want to bleed out, you'll take me to that Snow Cap war party. They can patch you up after I've talked to them."

Boxer slowly turned away from Blake, looking back at Snow Cap vehicles getting closer to her. Her vision started to cloud, and she started to fade out of consciousness. As she passed out, her foot came off the pedal, bring the truck to a slow stop. The truck sat still in the salt flats, and the Snow Cap war party moved in and surrounded it.

Blake stepped out of the truck, her hands behind her head. She limped away from the truck and fell to her knees. Cars and trucks of all different sizes had circled the Dust tanker and come to stop. Every armed member of the war party kept their guns pointed at Blake, as they made way for the massive dragon themed monster truck to move in.

As the gargantuan vehicle pulled up, flames erupted from the nostrils of the dragon head. Blake felt the heat as the flames went over her head. The truck came to a very slow stop, an enormous tire halting only inches from Blake's face. For a moment, nothing happened. The Dragon's truck remained still, as if waiting for Blake to move first. Rather than make a move, Blake decided that maybe now was her best chance of making peace with the Dragon.

"My name-"

The sound of every gun clicking sounded out as soon as Blake started to speak. Each party member now even more focused on the faunus woman.

"My name is Blake."

She looked up at the truck in front of her, hoping for some sign of recognition.

"I'd heard rumours of two women living in Snow Cap. They are Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee. I have no desire to fight with you. I only wish to know if I could find these women in your city."

Still no response from within the massive vehicle in front of her, Blake growled lightly.

"Do you know of a Yang Xiao Long or Weiss Schnee living in Snow Cap? If not, then I will leave you alone, and you can go home. There doesn't need to be any trouble."

The sound of a door opening came from the truck and a figured stepped out onto the hood.

"You're mad. You know that, Kitty Cat?"

Standing of the nose of the massive metal dragon was Yang Xiao Long herself. Long yellow hair flailing in the wind, she stood there with her hands on her hips making a 'tsk' sound at Blake.

"You've been a naughty little cat, haven't you?" Yang smiled, and jumped off of the truck to embrace Blake in a bone crushing hug.

"Yang, my leg."

"What?" Yang looked down at the woman's bandaged and braced leg before letting of her. "Sorry, but I guess you should have _braced_ for it, huh?"

"That was really bad, even for you."

"Oh come on, you're no fun at all." Yang took a step back, looking over Blake, almost admiring her. "I'm seeing it, but I 'm still not quite believing it. You're actually here. Oh, Weiss is going to be pumped."

"Weiss is in Snow Cap?"

"Is she?" Yang laughed, all members of the war party laughing with her. She held up her hand, stopping them abruptly. "Weiss is the queen. All that time calling her the Ice Queen, now she actually is the Ice Queen."

"I'd hate to keep her waiting. I assume you have doctors in the city?"

"Of course! We'll get that leg fixed up, no problem."

"It's not just me. There is a woman bleeding out in the driver seat. I didn't want to, but I had to shoot her to get her to stop the truck. I'd rather she not die; she did help get me here. She's a good person, but she makes bad decisions."

"Say no more," Yang said as she walked over to the truck. "I will carry your companion to the doctors myself."

"Thank you, Yang."

Yang opened the door to the truck and climbed up to pull the unconscious woman out. After a moment, it was clear that she had stopped moving entirely. Dead still, she stood there staring into the truck.

"Yang, what is it? Is she alive?"

"She's alive," Yang said quietly. "She's alive! No thanks to you. Do you know what you did?"

"I don't understand-"

"Restrain her," Yang ordered to her soldiers. "Consider her an enemy of Snow Cap."

"Yang, what is going on?"

Blake struggled as her hands were tied together and a muzzle was placed on her fang. She watched as Yang lifted the Boxer from the truck. She walked toward Blake, Boxer in her arms.

"How did you not know?" Yang asked, with tears in her eyes. "Did you really not know?"

"I don't- What did I not know?"

Blake asked the question, but she realized she already knew the answer. She'd been so determined to not get involved with people on her travels that she let herself look straight through everyone she met. She paid Boxer no more attention than any other person she'd met. She never saw it before, because she wasn't looking for it.

Her eye. Her silver eye.

"It's Ruby, Blake. You shot Ruby."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sweat and mud.

It smelled like sweat and mud. All of the Wasteland was hot, but only here was it uncomfortable.

Muggy. Humid. Descriptions that haven't graced the mouths anyone since before the Collapse. And yet, here it was spoken with contempt that would aggravate the denizens of the bone dry deserts.

And while it initially might feel so different than the land around it, Snow Cap had one thing that it shared with the rest of the Wasteland: the misery. That crushing sense of defeat; that overwhelming feeling of being broken that plagued all those still survived. Snow Cap looked different, but in reality it was just another dying reminder of what civilization used to be. A stained representation of life before the collapse.

Snow Cap, situated at the base of a mountain, was comprised of rolling hills and narrow alleyways between the buildings. At the furthermost edges of the city the buildings, if they could be called that at all, were mostly just worn down shacks with old and torn sheets in the place of windows. Every hundred metres or so, there was a watch tower structure, with spotlights scanning the slums below. The residents of the shacks had come out of their homes to watch as a tied up Blake is dragged to the city centre, and they looked just as worn down and condemned as the structures they called home.

Further into the city and the buildings began to change into something more respectable. The sheets now replaced with actual windows, the houses actually looked like someplace that someone could call 'home.' The road also began to get smoother, as it went from a mud path littered with garbage and rocks to a somewhat manicured gravel path. The people in the houses watched quietly from their windows, some giving Blake sympathetic looks, but most simply scoffing at the sight before turning back to whatever they'd been doing before. The scoffs became more common the closer they got to the centre.

Blake, who was being hauled backwards up the road with a muzzle across her mouth, did her best to try and turn to face the direction she was going. Up ahead she could see an ornate set of gates, with a tall barbed fence going out on either side of it. The guard positioned behind the gate quickly set to opening it after noticing the sight of Yang, or The Dragon, bringing a prisoner up the road. Yang noticed Blake's curious staring and punched her with an excessive amount of force. Getting the message loud and clear, Blake kept her gaze focused behind her.

She turned back the closing gate just in time to see a group of four people sprinting towards it with makeshift weapons. They screamed at the guards, startling them enough to surround one of them and brutally hack at him with homemade axes and spears. The other guards quickly recovered from the surprise and opened fire on the ragged attackers with large machine guns.

Blake watched, stunned, as the guards mowed down the four individuals. Once they were certain they were all dead, they went right back to shutting the gate as though nothing happened. Blake couldn't help but think, what kind of place Yang had gotten herself involved with. And Weiss for that matter.

On the other side of the gates, it was like night and day compared the slums she saw when she'd first entered the city limits. All around were the post-apocalyptic equivalents of mansions. The sprawling estates had everything from personal generators that fed power into each house, to grass lawns and bombastic fountains. And further down the side roads, Blake could see what looked like shopping districts in the distance.

The buildings got taller and taller, some going up to six stories tall. Sporadically placed throughout, were buildings that even resembled skyscrapers. Blake could only count about thirteen of them, which she guessed were likely for the uppermost elite of Snow Cap.

Though she couldn't see it, Blake was approaching the tallest of the skyscrapers. Emblazoned on the front of the building was a massive depiction of the Schnee family symbol: a twelve pointed snowflake. Presumably now the symbol for the city of Snow Cap, it was also printed on the uniforms of the guards the stood before the massive doors of the tower. The doors made a cacophonous noise as they were opened.

As she was hauled through the doors, Blake stole a quick glance up at the night sky. Very rarely did she pay any attention to the stars. The shining lights that dot the ceiling of her world had never had any importance to her, with the exception of the one that would always point north. She figured herself too busy to stop and enjoy the celestial roses, so to say. And though they had never held her attention before, now she found herself dreading the moment that the doors shut and cut her off from the beautiful sight.

The doors shut with a loud bang, ending the unpleasant shrieking that emitted from them as they scraped across the stone floor. Blake's ears fell down against her head at the noise, but she quickly perked them back. The last thing she wanted was for these people, and Yang, to think she was afraid. Though she tried to convince herself she wasn't scared, there was no denying that she was terrified. If they had hauled through the city the way that did as a scare tactic; it worked. But not for the reason they might think.

The miserable condition and desperation in the people were no different than anywhere else she'd seen in her travels. The ruthless guards actually seemed somewhat compared to some of the people she'd fought and killed before. And the uncomfortable muzzle that cut at her cheeks was something she'd quickly forgotten about after it was strapped to her face.

No, it was none of that which scared Blake. It was that it seemed like Yang was willingly living in such a horrible place as this. This wasn't the same Yang that she knew at Beacon all those years ago. The fun loving girl who loved her sister more than the entire world was gone, replaced by some angry warlord. An angry warlord that still loved her sister.

And Blake had shot that sister.

Blake sat handcuffed in the middle of a room, the cold blue eyes of a former heiress drilling holes straight through her. She tried to look Weiss in the eyes, but when she did she had felt like she was staring at nothing at all. Instead she just looked a little to the left of her face, not wanting to give the impression that she was too afraid to even look at the icy woman.

However, Blake _was_ terrified.

The blonde behind began to tap her foot on the ground. The sound caused Blake to flinch slightly, her ears flicking with each tap of Yang's foot. In the dead quiet of the room, the tapping sounded like the loudest noise that Blake had ever heard. Though she was dreading what Weiss would say to her, she half hoped she would just say it. If only to stop the impatient thumping of the blonde warlord's boot.

Weiss took her eyes off of Blake for the first time since she was brought into the room. Blake let out a small sigh of relief. The tapping foot behind her stopped, expecting something to finally be said. But rather than talk, Weiss just took to staring at the painting on the wall of the office room.

The painting was the very same one that had once been hung on the wall of Team RWBY's dorm room. How it survived the Collapse was beyond Blake, but she didn't much care about how. Seeing it now brought back memories of simpler times, when they only things that wanted to kill her were Grimm and a terrorist organization. But now that the White Fang had become peaceful and the Grimm disappeared, it seemed like the universe had overcompensated and sent every other living thing to kill Blake instead.

"You've been busy, Blake."

The faunus jumped at Weiss' words. She could hear Yang shuffle in her place behind her, relieved that something was finally being said after all the waiting.

"I have. I've been looking for you."

Weiss turned away from the painting, looking back at Blake again.

"And so you have found me. And Yang as well. Well done."

Weiss' voice was monotonous. Apathetic and emotionless, each word felt like an icicle being driven into Blake's chest.

"And Ruby," Yang added. "She found Ruby and she shot her-"

"Yang, I do not remember asking you to speak!"

The former heiress' words froze the room, sending a shiver down Blake's spine and stopping even the vivacious Yang in her tracks.

"I am well aware of the situation with Ruby Rose," Weiss said, before clearing her throat. "She is with our best medical, and will be well taken care of. Right now, I am speaking with Blake Belladonna."

Yang shuffled uncomfortably behind Blake, not daring to say another word.

"Knowing you," Weiss said, continuing as thought Yang had never interrupted. "I'd expected to see you sooner."

"I ran into some delays...a lot of delays, actually."

"Mhmm. And where did you find her?"

Assuming that 'her' was Ruby, Blake thought about how much she wanted to say about her encounter with her at NewFang.

"She...was living in NewFang. She owned a bar there, and called herself Boxer."

"Is that all?"

Blake flinched at Weiss' cold tone. She felt the urge to shiver every time Weiss spoke.

"She wanted to go to Sun Ocean. That was where she was headed when...when Yang found us."

Blake kept the details vague to protect Ruby, or Boxer. Unsure of how Weiss would react to the news that her old friend had committed an act of terrorism against her city's biggest trade partner.

"I wonder though," Weiss said with a slightly accusing tone. "How it is that you two came in possession of the Dust Tanker that was to arrive for trade? I assume that this was not a vehicle that was simply given to you on good will alone?"

Blake said nothing to this, unsure of how to explain the bad situation to her.

"And I also wonder if there is any correlation between your atypical arrival and the report of an explosion in the Dust mines at NewFang."

Blake remained silent; now realizing the Weiss knew fully what Ruby had done.

"Despite the circumstances, I'm willing to overlook both yours and Ruby's involvement in the attack and following...'escape.' That said, there will be repercussions for those actions that even I will not be able to deny fully."

"May I speak?" Yang spoke with a stressed tone, struggling to keep herself from losing control of her anger.

"No Yang," Weiss answer quickly. "You may not speak."

Returning her focus to Blake, Weiss continued.

"From my understanding, Ruby appeared to have suffered memory loss at some point. This would explain your not recognizing her. Given that you did not know who it was you had shot, I believe that your actions are justified."

"May I speak?"

"No Yang, you may not speak!" Weiss cleared her throat after her outburst, and then continued. "Seeing as Ruby will likely make a full recovery from the wound, I see no reason to discipline you for your action."

"May I-"

"NO YANG XIAO LONG, YOU _MAY NOT SPEAK!_ "

Yang and Blake both jumped at the sound of Weiss' yelling.

"You may not speak again in this room until I have given you expressed permission to do so, beforehand. And until then, I ask that you leave the room. Wait outside until I call for you. Is that understood?"

Yang only nodded her head in response. She slowly turned and walked out the doors, shutting them softly behind her.

"Weiss...what happened to you?"

"I had a duty to fulfil. To uphold the standard of civil life after society died. I founded this great city so that we may have a place to continue living in comfort, without worry."

"Have you looked outside these doors? Your people are living in poverty, while you sit here in an extravagant tower. This is no different than the world was before."

"Is that not what you want?" Weiss asked, almost showing a hint of emotion in the voice. "Do you not wish we could go back to the way it was before?"

"The way it was before was not good enough. It collapsed. Failed. Brought us to where we are now. What makes you think that it will be any different this time?"

"Because I am the one who is doing it. And I will not make the same mistakes that people like my father made."

"You say this, and yet what I see outside these walls is no different than before."

"Then perhaps you aren't looking hard enough." Weiss paused for a moment, thinking about her words carefully. "I believe that I what I am doing here is right, even if you don't. So does Yang, for that matter. If what we are doing is too hard for you to understand, then maybe you should not stay."

"I spent all this time trying to find you, and I still don't think I have. The Weiss I knew would never stand for such injustice. And Yang...this is beyond her, what is happening here. Is she so blinded by anger that she cannot see what is going on around her?"

"Yang sees my plan for what it is," Weiss said sternly. "She is simply trying to ensure that she has a place that she feels safe enough to live with her sister. And now she has found that sister again. If you could just understand it...we are all back together again. Is that not what you have wanted?"

"It is exactly what I wanted. But not like this."

"So be it," Weiss said, ringing a small bell beside here. "Then we have nothing else to discuss here. I leave your fate up to Yang now. I'm sorry we couldn't see eye to eye."

"So am I."

"Since you're not familiar with our prison system, I'll give you the short version. I'd hate for you to get lost."

Each word that Yang spoke was dripping with venom. Blake was beginning to see why people called her The Dragon. Even with semblances gone, she still found a way to burn people without any actual fire. Maybe it was just the lanterns that lit the prison cell, but Blake could swear that Yang was filling the room with smoke.

"We have a sort of," Yang paused, smirking. "Sort of _rehabilitation_ system in place for our prisoners. As I'm sure you know, our water comes from the snow cap at the top of this mountain. It's not exactly easy to get that stuff, though. So we take volunteers from the prison and send them up there with a chance at redemption. If they make it back alive, then they become free men and women. We make sure they're set for life."

"I'm sure giving convicted criminals freedom and power is really great for the community."

"I see kitty still has claws," Yang laughed. "We only do that because they're the only ones crazy and desperate enough to actually do it. If they come back, then they must be some real tough stuff. In my book, that makes them worthy of freedom and power. This city wouldn't be where it is if it wasn't for those kind of people."

"Plagued by poverty? Inequality? NewFang may not have a great standard of living, but at least they understand equality."

"NewFang would be nothing without us. If you hold such high opinions of it, then why did you try and destroy it?"

"I don't know if you heard, but that was all your sister's doing. I just got dragged into helping her."

"How dare you," Yang said, grabbing Blake by the collar of her shirt. "How dare you try and put the blame on Ruby? Especially after you shot her!"

"Yang, I know what it looks like, but you need to understand something: I don't think that's Ruby anymore. She is Boxer now, and honestly...she's more like you than anything else. The old you, at least."

"The old me?" Yang laughed at that, forcefully pushing Blake to the ground. "The old me was weak. I guess that would explain how she let herself get put into a hospital bed."

"Yang..."

"What?" Yang voice turned cold. "What, Blake? 'Yang' what? 'Yang you're different? Yes, Blake, I am different. The world ended, and I had to change to survive it. So did Weiss. We did what we had to do in order to live. We want to rebuild the world. Bring it back from the dead! Create a place for us to live our lives, happy. We do this for you. For Ruby. For everyone! Are you really so blinded by your anger that you can't see that? That you can't see what we've made?"

"I do see what you've made. And it's an abomination."

"You're an abomination!" Yang's angry yelling echoed throughout the hallway. She took a moment to compose herself before continuing. "Is it so wrong for to do anything I have to in order ensure that Ruby will have someplace safe to live? All I want is for her to be safe, and to not have to worry about anything outside these walls. All the evil and sickness."

"Yang... Ruby isn't a little girl anymore. I know you just want to be her big sister, but you can't baby her for the rest of her life."

"But I want to," Yang said quietly, her eyes reverting back to her normal purple hue. "And I will do just that, whether she likes it or not. It's been...what? Ten? Fifteen years? And there first time I see her in all that time she's in the passenger seat of tanker and bleeding out. Not exactly the best reunion."

"I- I'm sorry."

"She was already unconscious," Yang said, her eyes turning back to red. "Twenty years and she still hasn't seen my face. Because of you. No apology you could give me will make up for that. I spent all these years dreaming of the moment we see each other again after so long, and you took that from me!"

"But at least she is here now, right? Weiss said she'd recover, and when she does-"

"She won't even remember me," Yang's voice faltered slightly, but still remained stern. "Something happened to her out there, and she lost her memory because of it. If I had been there, I could have stopped it from happening."

"There's no use in thinking of 'could haves.' You have to keep moving forward."

"I have moved forward, Blake. Look around you, do you not see what I've helped build here? I did move forward. But look at you, still roaming around and causing trouble. You haven't changed a bit. You're still the same rouge loner you've always been. Even when we were partners you were like this. So difficult to form an attachment to. Everything I did to get close to you, and you only pushed me away."

"I know that I can be hard to be around, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you."

"If you care so much, then why won't you join us here? Me and you, together again... Ruby is back, and Weiss was always here. It'd be like old times."

"I'd love to do just that, but not here. Not in this failed city you've built. I'm sorry Yang, I truly am."

"I'm sorry that you can't see it for what it is," Yang sighed. "Someone will come and take you to processing. Good luck on the mountain."

And with that, Yang left Blake alone in her jail cell. Once she was gone, Blake immediately set to looking for a way to escape. There were only three cells in the temporary holding room, with hers being the only one that is occupied. The only things in her windowless cell were her and a small blanket meant to serve as a bed. Not a lot that would help her escape.

Though she wasn't a hundred percent sure, she felt fairly certain that the cells were directly beneath the office room that Weiss was currently in. Through the ceiling she could hear the muffled sound of classical music. If Weiss was listening to her music, then she wouldn't be able to hear anything Blake did in her cell. This was good news for her, because even though she still wasn't certain of her escape plan; she knew it was not going to be quiet.

Blake walked to wall at the back of her cell, tapping it to test its thickness. The soft thud that came from her tapping her knuckles on it indicated that it was solid concrete. She should have known better than to assume Weiss wouldn't have let any aspect of her tower not be completely flawless. Especially the prison cell directly underneath the place she works.

After a few minutes of inspecting every inch of her cell, Blake gave up trying to find a way out. She knew that there was no way she'd be able to escape the jail without help. The best she could hope for was to find some way to escape when they take her to what Yang had called 'processing.'

In the mean time, she decided to try and get some rest, and relax her injured leg. The bleeding had stopped a while ago, but the pain was still very much present. However, the brace that Boxer, or Ruby, had made for her was making it a considerable amount easier to move around. It was a nice, Blake thought, to have something made for her by Ruby, especially in her current situation. It was the last she had of the idea that she could get team RWBY back together.

As Blake lay there, she listened to the music coming from Weiss' room above her. It was some orchestral piece that sounded like one of the records that Weiss would play back in the dorm room at Beacon. For a few minutes, with only the muffled sound of the music playing, it was almost like Blake was back at the dorm room. Though she knew she shouldn't, she let herself fall into those fantasies. Pretending she was somewhere else wouldn't get her out of Snow Cap, but at that moment she didn't care about anything outside of Weiss' music.

Above her, Blake heard the record skip. Ripped out of her fantasy, she listened intently as Weiss' footsteps angrily approached the record player. Blake heard the scratch of the needle being torn of the record, and then Weiss' angry yell as she slammed the offended disc on the ground. A large crash came afterwards, which Blake assumed was the record player itself. The sound of Weiss kicking the record player and yelling sent Blake's ear flat against her head. She listened intently as Weiss yelled and screamed for a few minutes before falling to the floor.

After that, there was only silence.

If anything, Blake figured that she could take solace in the fact that she wasn't the only one having a rough time of it.


End file.
